I'm really trying to be more positive and avoid ranting. I'd rather rave about great products and services than scream about bad ones and evil companies. There's just nothing very good to say about Apple.

I'm really trying to be more positive and avoid ranting. I'd rather rave about great products and services than scream about bad ones and evil companies. There's just nothing very good to say about Apple.

I'm kind of bummed with the corporate colonization of the net.* The desktop is an anachronism, and it seems like laptops will follow. Yet, I'm perfectly welcome by Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and various telcos to keep throwing money through my debit card just to access more and more content.

-- Want objective news? Pick your bias and pay for the opinions you want to hear.-- Want an education? Pick your school and buy the degree; doesn't matter whether it's accredited or not, businesses know you didn't study and aren't prepared.-- Want music or books? Pay per view through a proprietary device that either locks-in or loses your purchases on purpose.-- Want a phone? Then your every move and call has long been tracked and sold for profit.-- Going to court? Every piece of tech you use is used against you to convict you. (Great for catching bad guys, but why does it make the good guys feel like a criminal?)

*Maybe I need a vacation from the web. I'm starting to get too pissy about these things.

I'm really trying to be more positive and avoid ranting. I'd rather rave about great products and services than scream about bad ones and evil companies. There's just nothing very good to say about Apple.

Understood, but you had mentioned in another thread that you were curious about how much of the iTracking story was actually true/hype. So I was hoping to get your take on how well the patent story/angle held water (e.g. I know shit about patents).

The highlight of your rants has always been (for me anyway) your extremely in-depth understanding of the architecture & detail provided, the whit is always good, and screaming fuck of course is optional.

I'm really trying to be more positive and avoid ranting. I'd rather rave about great products and services than scream about bad ones and evil companies. There's just nothing very good to say about Apple.

Understood, but you had mentioned in another thread that you were curious about how much of the iTracking story was actually true/hype. So I was hoping to get your take on how well the patent story/angle held water (e.g. I know shit about patents).

The highlight of your rants has always been (for me anyway) your extremely in-depth understanding of the architecture & detail provided, the whit is always good, and screaming fuck of course is optional.

There's nothing novel in the patent application. It's all been done before in one form or another. C3 and C4i systems do a lot of that already, and they've been around for a long time. (Combat systems.)

But that's just the patent aspect of it. Like I said, another pathetic attempt to rape people through the patent system.

Then there are sites like "PatentlyApple.com":

Apple Patent Reveals Extensive Stalking Plans

Crap like that drives me batty.

NSFW

It makes me want to bash in their heads and skull-fuck them to inject some sense into them.

And we haven't even gotten to to the ethical issues behind lying, cheating, and stealing...

I don't want to be hostile And I don't want to be dismal But I don't want to rot in An apathetic existance

See, I want to believe you And I wanted to trust you And I want to have faith to Put away the dagger

But you lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal And yet I tolerate you

You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal And yet I tolerate you

Veil of virtue hung to hide your method While I smileing and laughing and dance And sing and praise your glory Shroud of virtue hung to mask your stigma As I smile and laugh and dance And sing your glory While you

Lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal How can I tolerate you?

You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal How can I tolerate?

You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal

You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal

You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal (crescendo) You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal You lie, cheat and steal

I will no longer tolerate you Even if I must go down beside you I must go down beside you No one is innocent

There are legitimate uses for location tracking. Location tracking is a good thing. It's the lying and deception that's the problem.

I've pointed out this exact issue before and how Samsung deals with it in their bada mobile operating system. They're up front about it. They put the user in complete control. The bada SDK has all of this stuff in it and you can do it all -- but ONLY after you've been vetted by Samsung, come up with a user-friendly privacy agreement, and had you application tested. Samsung is doing this exact same thing the right way. That's fine. Apple is NOT doing this the right way. They're being sneaky, deceptive

They could have been honest about it, but they weren't. Like what is wrong with those people?

Location based services are a great idea.

As a simple example, just imagine what LBS could do when tied into car sensors -- you know where you went, how fast, and what your fuel levels were at each point. WOW~! Now you've got a MASSIVE data set that can tell you which routes cost more to drive and which routes are going to save you fuel, which in turn reduces emissions and results in a more environmentally friendly car.

"Electric Eye" is an allusion to the book Nineteen Eighty-Fourw by George Orwell, in the use of the name of the pseudo-omnniscient satellite that watches over the community at all times. In this dystopia, the form of government, Ingsoc (Newspeak for English Socialism), is utterly totalitarian, and if citizens are caught rebelling in any manner, they "disappear". The song has been called "prescient" for its depiction of a modern surveillance state.

Electric Eye

Up here in space I'm looking down on you. My lasers trace Everything you do. You think you've private lives Think nothing of the kind. There is no true escape

I'm watching all the time. I'm made of metal My circuits gleam. I am perpetual I keep the country clean.

I'm elected electric spy I protected electric eye. Always in focus You can't feel my stare. I zoom into you You don't know I'm there. I take a pride in probing all your secret moves My tearless retina takes pictures that can prove.

Electric eye, in the sky Feel my stare, always there 's nothing you can do about it. Develop and expose I feed upon your every thought And so my power grows. Protected. Detective. Electric eye.